


Young Love

by Romanovax



Category: Teen Avengers - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Breakups, Bullying, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Highschool!Avengers, Little bit of smut, Loki/Tony being cute in general, M/M, Sad Tony, Slightly abusive howard, Teen!Avengers, Tony gets hurt a lot, Underage Drinking, cute dates, highschool!au, no superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6593161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romanovax/pseuds/Romanovax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Highschool!AU Avengers.  Tony's life seemed to be going just fine until the kid from Avenger Academy's main rival school decided to show up and take interest in him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! The first chapter is just going to be a very short introduction I promise the rest of the chapters will be much longer!  
> Character's grades:  
> Tony- 11th  
> Loki- 11th  
> Natasha- 12th  
> Pepper-11th  
> Rhodey- 12th  
> Steve- 12th  
> Bucky- 12th  
> Amora- 12th  
> Thor-12th  
> Clint- 10th  
> Wanda and Pietro- 10th

“Hey man. You're going to the football game tonight, right?” Rhodey set his lunch down on the table and took the seat next to Tony. It was their usual large table in the courtyard of Avengers Academy-- an exclusive school that required an application showing a talent or high IQ to enroll. 

“Hell yeah I am.” 

“And are you actually bringing Pepper along this time?”

“I wish. You know her, always studying.” 

“Well I wish some of her work ethic would rub off on you, Tony.”

Tony rolled his eyes and preceded to talk through a mouthful of sandwich, “I have great work ethic, Rhodes. I just choose not to waste my time on my mundane classes.”

Steve decided to make his entrance just as Tony finished speaking. “Tony we get it, you're a genius, stop rubbing it in.”

“Aw sorry wonder boy, am I making you jealous?” Tony looked at him with mock sympathy. 

“Shush and eat your sandwich, Stark.” That earned him a smug grin from Tony and a small chuckle from Rhodey. 

The rest of their group– Natasha, Bruce, Bucky, Clint, and Thor– soon joined them, sitting at their usual seats around the table. They chatted and ate lunch up until the bell rang signaling it was time to go back to class. 

“I better see you all at the game tonight!” Thor called out as he started to walk towards the main building. 

“Wouldn't miss it for the world,” Bucky called back. 

The rest of the group departed in a chorus of ‘see you laters’ and headed off to class.


	2. The Big Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony accidentally meets Thor's brother.

“Go Thor go!” The students packed into the Avengers Academy bleachers screamed encouragements as Thor grabbed the ball and made a mad dash for the opposite side of the field. His large frame easily allowed him to push through his opponents and run the ball to a touchdown. Thor was indefinitely the all-star of the team and he brought Avengers Academy to victory every game. 

Tonight they were playing against one of their biggest rival schools, the Hydras. Tony thought it was a really stupid and weird mascot but hey he couldn’t judge, the Avengers didn’t even have one. Not only are they the Avenger’s main rival, but it’s the school Thor’s half brother attends. Tony had never actually met the guy but he had seen plenty of pictures on Thor’s Instagram. 

Loki had Thor’s good looks but that’s where the resemblance stopped; Loki was thin with shoulder length back hair and piercing green eyes. He looked like an antisocial hipster who wrote deep poetry and was always brooding. Really a complete opposite of his brother. The crowd died down as half time was announced and everyone got up to mingle. 

“I think Thor wanted us to actually meet his brother after the game,” Steve announced to the group of friends.

“Do we have to?” Tony frowned

“Come on you guys, Thor never asks for much, let's give him this.” Steve countered. Tony was surprised Steve never tried out to be a cheerleader, he sure loved to give pep talks and support people. 

Tony sighed “But everyone at that school is a spoiled, self absorbed brat. He doesn’t seem like much of an exception.”

Clint snorted upon hearing that and the whole group turned to look at him with questioning expressions. “You do realise you just described yourself, right?”

“Hey!” Tony shouted and crossed his arms defensively. “I am not a brat.” 

“Well you’re rich as hell and in love with yourself.”

Tony shrugged “I can’t help it that i’m just so amazing, I mean who wouldn’t be in love with me?”

“Whatever you say, Stark.”

Tony rolled his eyes and stood up “yeah, yeah, I’m gonna go grab a soda, anyone want anything?” 

Everyone shook their head so Tony turned with a shrug, heading down to the concession stands.

____________________

 

Tony turned away from the stand, more focused on opening the can of soda than where he was going. He bumped right into a partial stranger dressed in black skinny jeans, boots, a Hydra t-shirt and a green fur hooded jacket. 

“Shit sorry man- oh hey you’re Loki, right?”

The other boy simply raised an eyebrow. “Well yes, do I know you?”

“Ah guess not.. I’m on of Thor’s friends. He talks about you a lot.”

“I see.” He nodded, “do you have a name and are you always this clumsy?”

“Tony. Tony Stark, and yeah always pretty clumsy.”

“Oh yes I do recall Thor mentioning you,” Loki’s eyes travelled up and down, looking over Tony. “You’re even more handsome than he described.”

“Thank you?” Tony gave him a slightly confused look. Before he could say anything else, a blonde cheerleader from the Hydra’s team sauntered over and wrapped her arms around Loki from behind-- pom poms still in hand.

“Hello Amora.” Loki smiled briefly. 

Tony saw this as his cue to leave, “ah i’ll leave you and your girlfriend be…” Tony turned to leave.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Loki said matter-of-factly. 

“Who's that?” the girl asked, looking over at Tony. 

Tony paused and turned back to them, “Tony. Thor’s friend. I should really go…”

“Thor?” Amora’s eyes lit up. “Interesting.”

“Ah yes Amora is very fond of my brother.”

“Cute. He’s single, you should get on that.” Tony shrugged.

“Really?! Do you think-”

“Amora.” Loki cut her off, “can you please save your obsession over my brother for when I’m not around?”

“Ah yeah sorry, Loki.” She sighed.

“So um nice meeting you, but my friends are probably wondering where I am so i’m gonna go…”

“Yes nice meeting you, Tony Stark. I’m sure I’ll see you later.” Loki nodded.

“Bye cutie. Thanks for the tip.” Amora smirked and waved, still leaning against Loki.

Tony smirked at the name and turned back towards the stands. Calling that conversation ‘weird’ would be an understatement and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He made his way back to his seat next to Rhodey and wordlessly sat down.

“What took you so long?”

“Long line.” Tony shrugged, deciding to keep the run-in with Loki a secret for now.

“You okay man? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.” 

“Nah just tired I guess.” Tony flashed him a reassuring smile.

Rhodey must've believed him because he nodded and turned his attention back to the game that was starting up again.

If Tony was good at anything, it was fooling people into believing that everyone was going great in his life.


	3. Confessions and a Black Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone whose reading!  
> Just a quick warning, this chapter has a little bullying in it!

Tony went home after the game and tried to shrug off the conversation he had with Loki at the game. She spent the next two days tinkering in his father’s lab; which was technically off limits but he was too drunk half the time to notice. 

Monday came before he knew it and he was more than relieved when the last bell rang, marking the end of the school day. He hurriedly made his way to his locker and pushed through the mess of papers inside to find his necessary textbooks. 

“Hey Stark! Vhere is my homevork?” The voice echoes down the hall and made Tony’s whole body tense. He hated that voice but he knew it all too well. 

“Fuck off, Vanko.” Anton Vanko was the punk who had been bullying Tony all year, trying to scare him into doing his homework for him. He also happened to be the star of the wrestling team so he was great at taking people down. 

Tony was fit, and handsome, but he was no athlete. He mostly relied on his sarcastic and witty comments as defence. Although that usually got him in more trouble. 

He stepped out from behind the door of his locker and glared, trying to hide the fear he was actually feeling. Tony Stark was never one to just give in and show his emotions. He had an image to uphold. 

He watched as Vanko strolled down the hall, making a point to slam Tony’s locker door shut. “What did you say to me, nerd?”

Tony sighed and shook his head, “c'mon Vanko, you know I don't like that. I'm a genius, yes, but not a nerd.”

“Well I don't like you not doing as I ask, I gave you a warning last time. Where's my homework?”

Tony internally cringed, last time Vanko had threatened some very terrible things. Tony had hoped those were empty threats, but now he wasn't so sure. He put on his bravado once again, “aw well sorry, my dog ate it. Just use that as an excuse for you teacher.”

“That's it-” Vanko swung a punch straight at Tony’s left eye. Tony stumbled back and swung blindly, completely missing his target. That sure wasn't going to be pretty. 

A second punch connected with his jaw causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. A small crowd started to gather, a few boys started chanting, trying to encourage the fight. 

“Get up, Stark. I'm not done with you.” 

Tony just grumbled and waved a hand in dismissal. He didn't want to even open his eyes. He was in pain and he knew everyone was staring at him. He didn't feel like dealing with the embarrassment. 

“Tony…?” He heard the familiar voice than the sound of footsteps. “Oh hell no, Anton you better start running before I make you regret this.”

It was Natasha’s voice-- her Russian accent was unmistakable. Tony was so relieved he might have even attempted to hug her in public, if he could even standup. He cracked an eye open just in time to see Vanko literally running down the hall and away from Natasha. She didn’t kid around and she always followed up on her threats. She was fully trained in martial arts and acrobatics and you’d have to be crazy to get in a fight with her. 

Tony mumbled something unintelligible which brought Natasha’s attention back to him. She knelt down next to him and gingerly poked at the swollen skin around his eyes, which was quickly bruising. He hissed in pain and tried to swat her hand away.

“Come on Tony, get up, we need to get some ice on that before it gets any worse.”

Tony groaned and slowly sat up. “I have a headache.”

“I know, kotehok. My dorm is close by, let’s get you there, okay?”

Tony nodded and pushed himself off the ground. He had to heavily lean on her in order to walk straight but together they managed to make it to her dorm at the back of the campus. Tony lived in a massive house nearby, although he often wished he didn’t. The only good part was his butler, Edwin Jarvis and his workshop. Other than that the place was lonely and quiet; Tony preferred the exact opposite. He couldn’t take being lonely for too long or he got to be too self deprecating. He never complained though, complaining would mean he’d actually have to explain his whole family situation, no thanks.

It was a short walk and once inside, Natasha lead him over to sit on her bed. She left and came back a few moments later with a bag of ice, handing it to him. 

“Thanks, Nat,” he smiled weakly and placed the ice against his eye.

“Now tell me what happened,” she pulled over a chair to sit across from him. 

He told her what had happened up until she showed up. She nodded slowly and clenched her fist. Tony knew she liked to punch her feelings out and she tended to be very protective of her friends. 

“Nat I don’t want you fighting him.”

“But Tony-”

“No.” He gave her a completely serious look, “I don’t want you fighting my battles for me.”

“Yeah well your big mouth is just going to keep getting you beat up all on it’s own.”

Tony chuckled weakly, “you’re not wrong.”

“I’m never wrong.” Natasha smirked.  
“Uhuh, just keep rubbing it in. Are you going to add genius to your long list of talents?” She really did seem to be good at everything, she was extremely smart, a great fighter and yet she was still at the school on a ballet scholarship.

“You call yourself a genius, so I guess i’ll call myself one too.” She shrugged.

“Whatever you say, mean ballerina.”

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that!” Natasha huffed and crossed her arms. It was a nickname Tony had developed upon first meeting her. She had a pair of ballet slippers in her hand and she had glared daggers at him when he tried to compliment her. It never failed to bug her so Tony of course kept using the name. 

“Sorry what? I can’t hear you, Nat. Did you ask me to keep calling you a mean ballerina?” 

She flipped him off but there was still a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. He knew she couldn’t stay mad at him. 

They had a very interesting friendship. Most people thought they didn't even like each other because of how much they bickered when they were around their other friends, but Tony thought of her as a sister. They knew all about each other’s shitty pasts, something Tony usually kept from sharing with anyone. Pepper didn’t even know much other than how badly he was, and still is, treated by his father. Other than Rhodey, who was permanently number one in his life, there was no one he trusted more.”

Before he could really think through his words he blurted out, “Nat can I tell you something?”

She nodded and gave him a questioning look, “yeah what is it?”

Too late to go back now. “I kinda ran into Thor’s brother at the football game…”

“And?”

He paused, carefully considering his words. He was starting to think that he was just going crazy or overthinking things.

“And… he just gave me a really weird vibe, almost felt like he was flirting with me.” Tony frowned, “maybe i’m just overthinking things.”

“Did he know you are?”

“Yeah he said Thor had talked about me before, then his very hot cheerleader friend-”

Natasha cut him off, “Tony, you have a girlfriend.”

“Yes i’m more than aware of that.” He rolled his eyes before continuing. “She seems like she’s madly in love with Thor yet she was hanging all over Loki.”

“Weird.” Natasha shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you, maybe he’s just really friendly.”

“Or maybe someone, other than Pepper, finally recognizes how awesome I am.”

“Very unlikely.”

“Hey!” Tony stuck his tongue out at her. “You’re just in denial.”

“Whatever you say, 

————————

After Tony rested for a while and Natasha was satisfied that he was okay, Tony headed out to go to his own home. He wasn't surprised that no one had called to see where he was but he knew Jarv would at least make a fuss about his disappearance when he got home. 

He walked out towards the parking lot and noticed a strawberry blonde girl just walking out of the building. “Hey Pep!”

“Tony!” She smiled and walked over to him. “What're you doing here this late?”

He kissed her cheek and shrugging, “I could ask the same of you.”

“Just had some work to sort out….” The smile faded from her face as she looked up and saw the bruises around his eye and jaw. “Tony what happened to you?”

“Ah that Vanko guy has been trying to bully me into doing his homework for him.” 

“This is getting out of hand, Tony. You need to tell somebody who can help.” She sighed and looked up at him sadly. 

“I told Nat… She was helpful in scaring him off.”

“I mean an adult.”

“Yeah you keep telling me that, but I don't think it'll do any good.”

“I'm just worried about you,” she lightly cupped his less bruised cheek with her hand. It was something she often did when he was upset and couldn't bring himself to look at her. 

“Aw Pep don't worry, I'll be fine,” He smiled weakly. “Maybe I can borrow one of principle Fury’s eye patches until it heals up.”

She laughed softly, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.”

He grinned, “Hey what do you think about going out to dinner tomorrow night?”

“I don't know… I've got so much to get done and-”

“Pep you need a break and we haven't done anything together in a while. I promise to make it worth your time.”

“Well when you put it that way, I can't refuse,” She smiles and leans up to kiss him. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“I already miss you” he grinned and kissed her nose before turning to go out to his car 

“You're so cheesy,” she laughed softly. 

“I know!” He called back, smiling all the way back to his car.


	4. Broken Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony dubbs himself the worst boyfriend ever.

Tuesday past by without incident, which in all honesty was really boring. As soon as the last bell rang he headed out to his car. Their spots were assigned at the beginning of the year and his was coincidentally right next to Thor’s. 

He quietly cursed under his breath as he saw Loki leaning up against Thor’s car, typing away at this phone. It gave him the opportunity to just walk right by and drive off without being notice but Tony liked stirring up trouble. “What are you doing here?”

Loki looked up and smiled as he saw him, “Ah Stark, hello to you too. If you must know, I had something to give my brother.”

“Don’t you guys live in the same house?”

“Well yes, but by coming here I received the bonus of seeing you.”

Tony felt his cheeks get warm and he hoped he wasn’t visibly blushing. He had a feeling he shouldn’t be talking to this guy, that he meant trouble but Tony couldn’t help it; he loved getting praise and attention. After all, Thor wanted his friends to meet his brother, which Steve encouraged, so really he was doing the right thing. 

“Oh. Lucky you then.” Loki may have been making him blush but that didn’t mean he was going to drop his regular narcissistic attitude. He avoided looking at him by busying himself with digging through his backpack pocket for his car keys. 

“Yes lucky me.” Loki smirked and Tony vaguely saw him move away from Thor’s car. He finally fished his keys out and looked up to see Loki had moved to be standing just a few feet from Tony. Loki looked him over curiously before asking the question Tony had heard a hundred times that day. “What happened to your face?”

“I got in a fight with a bear, it was pretty crazy but I managed to take him down with my bear hands. No pun intended.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “seriously?”

“I would never tell a lie!”

“I find that very hard to believe.”

Tony furrowed his brow, “what’s that suppose to mean?”

Loki shook his head, “nothing. Would you just tell me what really happened?”

Tony sighed and thought it over. He wasn’t sure if he trusted this guy so he sure wasn’t about to spill his story of being bullied. Not to mention he was embarrassed about the whole situation.

“A stupid jock wanted me to do his homework and I refused, guess he didn’t like that.” Tony shrugged and played it off like it was no big deal, like over half his face wasn’t black and blue.

“That’s unfortunate, who would want to harm such a handsome face?”

Tony smirked, “I’m glad someone other than me appreciates my good looks.”

“Well I can appreciate beauty when I see it.” Loki shrugged and leaned against the side of Tony’s car, not taking his eyes off of him. Tony could feel his face turning red; this guy was really having an effect on him. 

“Oh is that so?” Tony smiled and looked down at his hands, mostly trying to hide the blush—although the bruising probably already did that for him.

“Indeed. I consider myself an artist, so I have a keen eye and I believe you would fit right in among my artwork.”

“So you wanna add me to your collection?”

“That’s a tempting idea. I doubt I could get tired of looking at you.”

Tony fumbled and dropped his keys. This kid, who he barely knew, managed to make him flustered. That didn’t happen, Tony Stark didn’t get flustered. He was the one who threw out compliments and made girls blush.

And he literally just called Tony a piece of art, he never received compliments like that. Even Pepper scolded him more often than said something nice about him. He wasn’t used to getting this praise from anyone, well except himself. Maybe he actually got knocked out by Vanko and was imagining the whole thing. Although he sort of wanted it to be real. 

He mentally smacked himself, he has a girlfriend yet he’s encouraging this flirting and enjoying it. He was lucky Nat wasn’t there or she would have actually hit him. 

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even bothered to pick up his keys. He was snapped back to reality as Loki picked them up for him, holding them out to Tony. 

“Right um thanks.” Their hands brushed as he took the keys from him and he instinctively yanked his hand away. Loki had to take a few steps closer in order to grab the keys and oh did he notice their close proximity. It took everything in him to not step back, he didn’t even consider someone might see them talking. Pepper could have seen them, but Tony rarely thought anything through.

After a moment of very awkward silence, Tony spoke up, “so what kind of art do you do?”

His eyes lit up the same way Tony’s did when he talked about engineering. “I mostly spray paint murals.” 

“Isn’t that vandalism?”

Loki sighed and shook his head, “only if you do it without permission.”

“Uh Huh, that sounds cool I guess.”

“I could show you if you want?” He had a hopeful look in his eyes that Tony didn’t want to say no to.

“Don’t you have to give Thor something?”

 

Loki looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Liar. 

 

“I live with him, he can get it later.”

“You didn’t come to give Thor anything, did you?”

“Are you accusing me of being a liar?” Loki placed a hand on his chest in mock shock. “How rude.”

Tony laughed and rolled his eyes, “you can explain yourself later. Get in the car, I’m driving.”

Loki did as he asked and waited till he was approaching the street to start giving directions. 

It was a quick drive and Tony blasted his usual rock music to avoid having to talk anymore and started singing along enthusiastically. Loki watched him with an amused smile, occasionally interrupting to give directions. 

Tony paused when he noticed Loki’s staring. “What?”

He smirked and shook his head, “nothing. Continue with your singing, it's cute”

Cute. He just kept on going with the compliments. Tony felt slightly embarrassed now and opted for quietly humming along. 

They arrived a few minutes later and Loki lead him, on foot, down several side streets before they arrived at an alley covered in green, spray painted designs. 

“Holy shit… You did this?” Tony looked up at it in awe. It was a huge and intricate mural with what vaguely looked like a more abstract version of Amora in the center. 

“Yeah,” Loki smiled and looked up at his creation. “Do you like it?”

“Do I like it? Man this thing is amazing! Why'd you have to paint it in an alley where no one's going to see it?”

“You've seen it.” Loki shrugged. “Like you said, it's technically vandalism.”

“Knew it!” Tony grinned and looked over at him. “But in all seriousness, you've got to do one of these where people can actually see it.” 

“You say that like I haven't already.” 

Tony smirked and leaned back against the opposite wall, “you know you're a lot cooler than I imagined.”

“Oh?” Loki raised an eyebrow. “So tell me, what did you think I was like?”

“An antisocial hermit who wrote dark poetry, silently judged everyone and probably had some weird obsession.” 

Loki scoffed and slowly moved closer to Tony, “and now what do you think of me?”

“I think… you're a great artist with a wicked sense of humor and so feisty, like one of my dates but with prettier hair.”

He raised an eyebrow, “like one of your dates?” He was standing about four feet away from Tony now and he was having a hard time pretending he didn't notice. “That's interesting.”

Tony shrugged, “ah yeah that's what I said.” Was Tony starting to flirt now? It usually came naturally to him; he knew it was wrong but he almost couldn't help himself. 

“I wouldn't mind being one of your dates.” Loki was standing inches from him now, so close he could feel his warm breath against his cheek. 

Loki started to lean in and Tony finally realized what he was doing was so wrong. “Woah- shit I have a girlfriend…” 

Loki blinked in confusion and took a step back. “I…”

Tony’s eyes widened, “Oh my god! I have a girlfriend!” He checked his phone and realized they had been talking for much longer than he had expected. He was already thirty minutes late for his date with Pepper. She hated wasting time and had probably left over twenty minutes ago. “She's going to kill me!” 

“Tony what's going on?” Loki stared at him, still slightly in shock from his outburst. 

“Pepper! Date! I gotta go!” He started running off to his car leaving Loki standing alone and speechless in the alley.


	5. One Big Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys like this fic! I really love writing it so expect plenty of chapters and longer chapters in the future!

Tony officially classified himself as the worst boyfriend ever. He finally convinced Pepper to take a break and go out and he completely blew her off. Not to mention he spent that whole afternoon flirting with, and almost kissing, Loki. 

He checked his phone and saw three missed calls and several angry texts from Pepper. He was so screwed. As soon as he got in his car, he sped off and tried desperately to get a hold of Pepper, but unsurprisingly she wouldn’t answer a single one of his calls. She didn't like people wasting her time. 

He had a pretty nice night planned, dinner at an expensive restaurant, taking her to her favourite bakery and a whole lot of kissing. 

They had planned to just meet up and she hadn’t specifically said she was leaving so he tried the restaurant first. He parked and ran into the lobby, looking around for any sign of her. When he was confident she wasn’t there he cut past the small line leading up to the hostess stand; The lady told him she had left about ten minutes ago and had looked pretty upset over something. Tony was in so much trouble. 

He cursed under his breath and ran back to his car. She must be home by now but he was going to need a pretty amazing excuse to get her to forgive him. He stopped at a nearby supermarket and picked up the biggest bouquet of flowers he could find before racing over to her house.

Luckily her house was close by and he got there quickly. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door, ringing the doorbell. He felt like he had been standing there for an eternity before Pepper’s father finally opened the door.

“Ah Tony! Good to see you.” Pepper’s father had always seemed to like Tony and considering his current cheery attitude towards him, Pepper couldn’t be too mad about the date. “What can I help you with?”

“Um is Pepper home?”

“She is, just got home actually, I thought she was suppose to be out with you?”

“Ah yeah she is. I was running a little late…” 

“I see, well you know her, never likes to wait around.” He nodded. “Fair warning though, she seemed pretty upset but you know I bet seeing you now would cheer her right up.”

“Oh I know…” He frowned and nodded.

“Well come on inside, she’s in her room. I’m sure you know your way around by now.” He stepped out of the doorway so Tony could walk in.

“Thanks Mr. Potts.” Tony gave him a smile before going down the hall to Pepper’s room. He thought over his words before knocking on her door, he had to give her an amazing speech if he wanted to be forgiven. 

“Hey Pep? It’s Tony…” A minute passed and there was no response. He sighed and opened the door, peeking his head inside. He saw her sitting at her desk working away, still all dressed up. She glanced up and glared at him. 

“Go away.”

“Pepper please… I’m so sorry. I lost track of time but I promise I didn’t forget, I was just running late, I can still manage to get us into the restaurant without a wait” He stepped inside the room, gently closing the door behind him. “I brought you some flowers.”

“Uhuh… so what were you doing that was so important then?” She looked at him, stone faced. She only used that look when he had really messed up.

“I um… I was just talking with Loki.”

She gave him a confused look, “Loki? As in Thor’s brother? You thought that guy was a creep.”

“Yeah well he’s actually pretty cool.” Tony shrugged. “But can you please give me another chance? I promise it won’t happen again.” He pleaded with her, taking a step closer.

She twirled a piece of hair around her finger, considering his words, “the thing is Tony, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this…”

“I know… but I’ll be better! You know I get distracted but I'll make an effort to be on time from now on.” 

“Tony I don’t think I can deal with this anymore. I know you mean well, and you're great and all, but until you figure out your priorities, we’re not going to work.”

Tony felt like he had just been punched again. Was she breaking up with him? Tony knew he had made some mistakes but he always made up for them… He felt completely deflated but he felt a surge of anger too. 

“Really Pepper? You should talk! All you care about is your homework and scholarships and shit, I have to practically beg every time I want to spend time with you!”

“I’m trying to make sure I have a future! Newsflash but I’m not a billionaire who can buy my way into anything I want.”

“I don’t- I can’t believe you just said that…” Tony stared at her, shaking his head. She never got angry like this; she would never make a comment like that… 

“Tony I know you were fully intending to bribe someone at that restaurant to get us a table.” 

“I may have provided a better tip, yeah but you've never complained about it before.” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “I’m starting to think I don’t actually know anything about you.” 

“You know plenty about me, I’ve just never let myself get mad around you before. You’re too fragile, Tony. I’ve always had to be careful about what I said around you.”

Tony frowned. They had been dating for two years now, had she thought that the whole time? She wouldn't have lead him on for that long… Something had changed. Tony knew deep down that he really was fragile, but being abused since you were two years old could do that to a person. 

“So you’ve just been babysitting me than? Is that it?”

Pepper shrugged off the question, “I like you Tony, but I don’t have time for a relationship right now. We can still be friends-”

“No.” Tony cut her off. “I’d hate to get in the way of your future.” 

“Tony…” Her voice was softer, more caring. More like her normal self. 

“You've made it very obvious about how you feel and I don't want to put you through any more trouble.”

“So be it,” she sighed. “If it makes you feel any better, I won’t tell anybody that I broke up with you. I know how much you care about your reputation.”

Tony glared at her, “I don’t give a shit what you say. I’ve heard more than enough to know I don’t want to continue to date you anyways.”

“I think you should go now.”

“Gladly.” He huffed and turned to leave, still holding the flowers he had brought for her.

He walked quickly back to the front door, not bothering to say goodbye to her father. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, which he fought to keep from spilling over. His father always told him ‘Starks don’t cry.’ As much as he pretended to agree with breaking up, he really did care about her and her harsh words got to him. 

His anger subsided as he drove home and he just felt empty as he trudged up the front steps and into his house. Jarvis had gone back to his own home and his parents were nowhere to be found. He barely made it up to his room before he couldn’t help but cry, it made him feel pathetic but he couldn’t keep his emotions pent up any longer. Eventually he tired himself out and fell asleep, curled up and still wearing his school clothes.


	6. Revenge Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frostiron fluff and a payback plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone reading this! Let the frostiron fluff commence.

Tony slept right through his alarm the next morning and decided to just stay home. He didn't want to have to go through seeing Pepper, who was in two of his classes. He especially didn't feel like explaining what had happened between them to his friends. 

If he said they broke up, they'd all want to know why. He wasn't about to tell them he blew Pepper off because he was too busy flirting with Loki to keep track of time. Except for Nat, they didn't even know he had ever met Loki. Even Thor seemed oblivious to it, which wasn’t really surprising; Loki didn’t really seem like the kind of guy to want to share information like that. 

He debated whether he should even tell Natasha. Eventually she’d interrogate him and he’d have no choice but to tell her everything that happened. Tony always thought she’d be a great cop or spy or something like that because of how easily she could convince him to spill information. 

He knew he messed up big time so for the moment he decided to allow himself a day to wallow in self pity. Loki probably hated him now too. Tony completely led him on and then just ran away. He was hit with another wave of guilt as he realised he just abandoned Loki in that alley. Yep Loki would never ever talk to him again, he made a mental note to at least attempt to ask him if he made it home okay. 

Eventually his growling stomach gave him enough motivation to sit up and get out of bed. He frowned at the now wilted flowers that he had thrown onto his desk the night before, just another reminder of his breakup. He brushed the thought away and trudged down to the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He was greeted by his constantly cheery butler, “oh Anthony! Good Morning, shouldn’t you be at school by now? Are you not feeling well?”

“Hey Jarv,” Tony yawned and shook his head. “I didn’t have a great night so I decided to take the day off.”

“I see… well I’ll call in to let the school know you’re at home. Make sure you get all your school work done, okay?”

Tony gave him a small smile and nodded, “yeah will do. Promise.” Jarvis might as well have been his dad, he cared way more about him than his real father ever did. His wife, Anna Jarvis, had babysat Tony one time when he was six years old and Tony had actually tried to run away to live with them instead. She had been so kind and interested in whatever Tony had to say, he didn’t want it to end, he loved being the center of attention. That sure didn’t end well for Tony. He would be the first to admit his family was screwed up. 

He rummaged through the fridge to find something quick to eat before settling on an apple and heading down to his father’s lab-- honestly he used it way more than Howard ever did. He had several projects he was working on and he planned to blast rock and roll and forget about the last couple days.

He only got through a few a hours of ignoring his feelings before he heard the distant sound of the doorbell ringing. He dismissed it, knowing Jarvis would get the door. 

Several minutes later there was a knock on the door to the workshop. Tony muted his music and looked in the direction of the door. “Yeah, Jarv?”

Jarvis peeked his head in, “sorry to bother you sir, but there's someone by the name of Loki Laufeyson here to see you. Shall I let him in?”

Tony almost dropped the wrench he had been holding. He didn’t think Loki would want to even see him again, he definitely didn’t expect a surprise visit to his home during the middle of a school day. 

“Um yeah, sure. I’ll go with you…”

“Splendid!” Jarvis smiled and turned back to go let in their guest. Tony wiped the machine oil off his hands and followed after him. 

They walked up to the foyer and Jarvis opened the door and there was Loki, looking almost self conscious about being there. He hesitated for a moment before stepping inside and glancing around the large room.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Tony watched him curiously.

“I could ask the same of you.”

He shrugged, “I decided I needed a day off.”

“Interesting,” Loki looked Tony over and wrinkled his nose. “Why are you all dirty?”

Tony had forgotten that he had just come from the workshop. He was sure there was grease streaked across his face; now he was the one feeling self conscious. “Oh I was tinkering, it’s a messy hobby.”

“Interesting. What are you working on?”

“I will show you. But first, did you come here for something or…?”

“Ah right! I um… well I’m still confused as to what happened yesterday, with you running off and all that.”

“Shit, I know and I’m really sorry for just leaving you there… I usually don’t do stuff like that, I swear.”

He sighed and nodded, “It’s okay, Thor picked me up. I didn’t tell him you had been there though.”

“That’s probably for the best, although he’d probably be ecstatic that we’re actually friends.”

“I agree,” he nodded. “You know, you could’ve told me you have a girlfriend.”

“Doesn’t matter much anymore, I no longer have a girlfriend.” He sighed and focused on looking anywhere but at Loki. 

“Oh?” Loki frowned. “What happened?”

Tony shrugged, “I got a little too distracted by you and forgot about a date I had planned, then she went on a whole rant about why she wanted to break up with me. Guess that just pushed her over the edge. Her loss.”

“She doesn’t sound like a very smart girl than.”

Tony snorted and shook his head, “funnily enough, all she cares about is school and studying, but um I’d rather not talk about her… you wanna see what I’ve been building?”

“Yes I’d like that very much.”

“Awesome, i’ll give you the grand tour of my place later” Tony turned and walked back towards his father’s workshop, it was his turn to be impressive. 

————————  
Loki jumped right back into his questioning as soon as they were inside. He looked around, but didn’t touch anything. “So what was her reasoning than? For breaking up with you?”

“To put it in short, she thinks i’m a self absorbed, fragile child who she can’t deal with anymore.” He shrugged and went back to working on the machine he had abandoned when Loki first arrived to keep from getting too emotional about it. 

“Like I said, she doesn’t sound like a very smart girl.”

Tony smirked, “you know I’m starting to agree with you Lo.” The nickname slipped out without much thought and he paused waiting to see what Loki was going to say about it.

“Already giving me nicknames?” Loki smirked. “I like it.”

Tony smirked and shrugged, “to be fair, I give everyone nicknames.”

“Wow way to make a guy feel special.” He rolled his eyes. 

“Oh I've got much better ways of making someone feel special. I keep that a lot more exclusive” Tony said it so nonchalantly he didn't think Loki would even pick up on what he meant, but the blush on his face said otherwise. 

“Oh yeah? Maybe you can show me sometime.”

Tony grinned mischievously and glanced up from the machine he was working on to look at Loki who was pretending to be very interested in a pile of scrap metal. 

“Hm, well I’ll see if I can find the time.” 

Loki turned around to look at him, “your teasing isn’t appreciated, Stark.”

“I’ll make sure to make it up to you.” 

“Oh I very much look forward to it,” Loki smirked and made his way over to the table Tony was working at, leaning forward onto his elbows. “Now are you going to show me what you you’re working on?”

“Oh yes! It’s a very rough design right now but it’s hand armor with repulsors which shoot energy beam kinda things. I can’t exactly use it for much because the beam would seriously hurt someone…”

Loki nodded and studied the repulsor, “this is very cool, Tony. You made it all by yourself?”

“Thanks!” He smiled and nodded, “yeah this is all mine.”

“Wow. I’m impressed. Could I see you shoot it at something?”

“Hell yeah you can, maybe if you’re lucky I’ll let you shoot it too.”

“How generous,” he smirked and watched as Tony fit the pieces together around his hand and went over to a line of test dummies. He aimed at them and the repulsor beam shot a hole right through the dummy.

“Holy shit- you weren’t kidding about that being dangerous…”

“Yeah but it’s pretty cool, right?” Tony grinned and looked back at him.

“For sure, I really want to try that.” Loki smiled and nodded.

“Well today is your lucky day then, come here.”

Loki walked over and Tony reassembled the pieces around Loki’s hand before standing behind him and helping him aim his hand towards the dummies. He felt Loki’s breath hitch as he moved closer to adjust his arm’s trajectory. Tony grinned smugly at his reaction before instructing him on how to shoot the repulsor. 

Loki cheered as he hit the dummy and twisted around to look at Tony, not bothering to put any space between them. “And that’s just a rough design? It’s pretty awesome.”

“I know right.” Tony grinned and looked up at him. He hadn't really noticed the height difference up until now but damn was Loki tall. Or maybe Tony was just short, either way they fit really nicely together. 

Loki brushed his non-armored hand over Tony’s cheek, “that black eye seems to be healing nicely.”

Tony looked at him with wide eyes but a smile tugged at his lips, “y-yeah, ice can really do wonders.”

“So I see, although I think you're one of the only people who can manage to make a black eye look attractive.”

Tony gave him an amused look, “glad you think so.”

A few moments of silence passed and Tony decided to speak up, “um so do you want to see the rest of the place?’

“Right, yeah, sounds good.” He nodded.

Tony hesitated a moment before slipping his hand into Loki’s, “It’s a big place, I don’t want you to get lost.”

Loki smirked and bit his lip, “that’s very considerate of you.”

“I try,” Tony grinned and lead him out of the workshop and through the main areas of the house, very purposely avoiding Jarvis. He ended his tour in his own room and let go of Loki’s hand to flop down on his bed.  
“Sorry it’s kind of a mess, I wasn’t expecting anyone over.”

Loki smiled and looked around at all the stray schematics and vinyls he had laying around, “don't worry, I don’t mind. It’s an interesting contrast, my room is generally spotless.”

“Oh yeah?’ Tony smirked and watched him. “I’d like to see it sometime.”

He smirked and nodded, “I’ll make sure that happens.”

“Glad to hear it.” He paused before asking. “So I was thinking of throwing one of my famously awesome parties soon, would you want to come?”

Loki thought about it for a moment before turning back to look at him, “I would like that very much. You know that would be a very good opportunity to get back at your ex…”

“Oh yeah?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “I can feel that devious mind of yours coming up with a plan, tell me.”

“Well I could bring Amora along with me and have her hang around you for a while. She's a very affectionate person so she’d be very good at making your ex jealous. Plus she seemed to like you after our first meeting.”

Tony smirked and nodded. “You sure it won't make you jealous too?” 

Loki scoffed, “I said for a while, I plan to get my own time with you.”

“Fair enough. This is going to be a fun night for me.” He grinned. “Plan: make Pepper jealous is a go!”


	7. Big Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony throws a party just to make Pepper jealous

Tony spent the rest of the week spreading the news of the party and inviting whoever he thought was cool enough to attend. He knew all of the girls in Pepper’s friend group and made sure they were all bringing her with them. They all seemed to still be happy to see him so Pepper must not have bad mouthed him yet; but than again, anyone would be excited to be invited to one of his parties. Overall he was very pleased with the plan. He decided he was much better off without her but he figured he should at least get a little revenge after all those mean comments she had made about him; he dismissed the thought that most of it was true.

————————

Friday night finally rolled around and he made sure everything was set up and anything breakable was put away--the last thing he needed was for something expensive to break.

As usual, his friends were the first to arrive. Having them there always made things less awkward. They had no idea about the plan or really that Tony was even acquainted with Loki but they had been told about the breakup. He told them she had broken up with him because she was too busy to handle a relationship and school at the same time and they all seemed to believe him, even Natasha. 

They didn’t have to sit around long before more guests began to arrive and soon enough it was in full swing with music blasting and most people had already had one too many drinks. That’s how Tony liked it, that’s how his parties became legendary. 

Loki and Amora arrived fashionably late an hour into the party. Tony had seen Pepper hanging around a little earlier and he was almost giddy to start their plan. It was simple enough, Amora would hang around Tony for a while, they’d flirt, Pepper would definitely notice and get jealous and he could only hope something awesome would happen as a result of her jealously. Then he planned to spend the rest of the night with Loki. He assumed this would be the day his friendship with Loki would be revealed to his friends but it was a much overdue secret anyways. 

He didn’t want to seem too eager so he waited till they had been inside for a few minutes before going over to greet them. 

“Hey Loki, hey Blondie. How’s it going?”

“Tony!” Loki smiled at him, “you weren’t kidding about throwing crazy parties.”

“What can I say, I like to impress.” He smirked and shrugged, “and as much as i’d love to keep talking to you, I need to steal your girlfriend to make my ex girlfriend jealous.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “she’s still not by girlfriend, Stark.”

“Whatever you say, Lo.” Tony grinned smugly and wrapped an arm around Amora’s waist. He found it so easy to tease Loki.

“He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on,” Amora smirked and looked up at Tony.

“Oh I can tell that you and I are going to get along very well.”

“Yes I agree,” she nodded and slipped her hand into his. “C’mon I could use a drink.”

“Yep we’re going to be best friends. Have fun Lo, make some friends, i’ll see you later!”

Amora giggled and pulled Tony towards the bar before Loki could respond. He had noticed Pepper out of the corner of his eye when he first went over to Amora and Loki and he really hoped she had noticed what was going on between them. He waited until they were over at the bar to sneak a glance in her direction and she was already glaring daggers at Amora-- who was completely oblivious to it. Looked like their night was right on track. 

Amora sure didn’t disappoint, she was wearing a fitted forest green crop top with a short white skirt and four inch heels and oh did she rock it. Pepper would probably be jealous just seeing her even in the same room as Tony, let alone giggling and hanging on his arm.

He might be enjoying this just a little too much.

Once they were at the bar, he turned his attention back to Amora and ordered himself another drink. He started liking her more and more as they talked, she was kind of a more wicked version of himself. If he wasn’t so into Loki, he probably would have tried to ask her out.

A few drinks later she paused and looked up at him, twirling a lock of hair around her finger, “think she’s buying it?”

“She looks pretty pissed to me.”

“Well just to make sure…” before Tony could process her words, she yanked him closer by his collar and kissed him deeply.

He kissed her back just as eagerly and let his fingers tangle into her hair. She pulled away a few moments later with a huge grin on her face.

“Yeah I think that convinced her,” he beamed, not taking his eyes off of her.

She giggled and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, “you’re welcome.”

He laughed softly and rolled his eyes, “Ooo she’s coming over here!”

She followed his line of sight to see Pepper casually walking in their direction. Amora wrapped her arms around Tony in a side-hug and pretended not to notice the other girl.

“Oh hey Pep, didn’t know you were here?”

“Seriously, Tony?”

“What?” He looked at her with mock innocence but a smile tugged at his lips.

“I can’t believe you moved on so quickly.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” He took a sip of his drink to hide his smile.

“You’re unbelievable.” She huffed. “Who is she?” 

Amora looked up at her, “none of your business.” Despite the heels, Amora was still shorter than Pepper but that didn’t mean she was any less intimidating.

Pepper raised an eyebrow and looked from her to Tony.

He just shrugged, “a friend of mine.”

“She looked like a little more than a friend…”

“Well ‘she’ is standing right here.” Amora glared at her and pulled Tony a little closer. That very obviously irritated Pepper.

Tony glanced between the two girls who were having a very angry stare-off. He decided she wasn’t in the mood to break up a fight and looked down at Amora, “You know I see Thor over in the corner there, why don’t you go keep him company.”

Her eyes lit up at the mention of Thor’s name, “I’d love to.” She kissed Tony’s cheek quickly before turning in the direction of where Thor was sitting. She glared at Pepper one last time before sauntering away.

Pepper looked at him in disbelief, “what the hell Tony?!”

“Is someone jealous?” He pouted in mock sympathy. “Well if you came over here to beg for forgiveness, I already made up my mind and I don’t want to get back together.”

“You’re such a dick.” She glared at him.

“Oh come on, I might be a little bit of an asshole but I’m not 100 percent dick.”

“Are you still hanging around Peter?” She rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I am, he has good music taste,” he shrugged. “But that’s none of your business either.”

She was about to protest when a hand rested on Tony’s arm to push in-between him and Pepper. “Excuse me, but I need to borrow Tony for a moment, or maybe the whole night.”

“Loki! Yes we have very important matters to attend to,” Tony nodded and slipped his hand into Loki’s. “See you later, Pep.”

Loki smirked and glanced down at their hands before leading him off into rest of the party. 

Loki pushed through all the people dancing and off into a side hallway. After his surprise visit, he had a pretty good idea of where things were in the huge house. His artistic eye had picked up on little landmarks such as statues and different wallpapers. The hallway wasn’t a very hidden away one and it would be very easy for someone to stumble across them together. 

Tony wondered if any of his friends as saw them holding hands but he was a little too tipsy to actually be concerned about it. He reached up and cupped his hands around Loki’s cheeks, “have I told you how handsome you are? Because you’re really, really handsome and I think I need to tell you that everyday.” 

“No you haven’t.” Loki chuckled.

“That’s extremely unfortunate.” Tony frowned and studies Loki’s face. It was hard to see in the dim lighting but the sound of the party was slightly muted in the hallway so it was easier to talk. 

Loki wrinkled his nose as he looked at Tony, “you have lipstick on your face, what was Amora doing to you?”

“Oh yeah she kissed me, she’s good at that.” Tony wasn’t exactly thinking completely straight and he was very distracted by Loki’s lips.

Now Loki was the one frowning, “why the hell did I think it was a good idea to use Amora for this plan?”

“Aww are you jealous?” Tony grinned and leaned up to kiss Loki’s nose, mostly just to tease him. “She definitely got the point across though, Pepper was sooo pissed at me.”

“Maybe I am jealous but I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of actually confirming that.”

“Don’t worry I like you a lot better.” 

“Oh yeah?” Loki smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“Hell yes.” Tony nodded.

“Prove it.” His eyes shone with mischief. 

Tony didn’t even hesitate to lean up and kiss him fully on the lips. Loki returned the kisses and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist. He had been hoping for this for a while but didn’t want to rush him into anything—It was worth the wait.

Tony’s fingers trailed up to his hair as he kissed him with more intensity. Loki smiled against his lips and lightly pushed him back into the wall. They were messy, desperate kisses but both of them were tipsy and couldn’t care less. 

“Is that enough proof for you?” Tony mumbled against his lips.

“It’s a start but I think I could use a little more convincing.” He slipped a hand beneath Tony’s shirt and held his hips to keep him in place.

Tony shuddered slightly at the feel of his cold fingertips against his skin and leaned in to kiss him once again, holding a tighter grip on Loki’s hair.

They didn’t get very far before they were interrupted.

“Tony…?”

Loki cursed under his breath and Tony cracked an eye open to see whom the voice was coming from. He recognized the figure as Steve who was staring at them with a look of shock. Tony knew at the very least he wouldn’t be judging him too much; after all he was dating Bucky who was just as anti-social and cryptic as Loki. “Sorry no one named Tony here, and it’s rude to stare. Move along.”

Steve shot him an annoyed look, “I’m not an idiot- and is that Thor’s brother.”

“I have a name.” Loki sighed but still had his focus on Tony.

Well the secret was out, no point in lying about it. “Yes and I honestly don’t know why you look so surprised.” 

“I- um I mean have you even talked to him before today?”

Loki snorted which earned him a confused look from Steve. 

“Yeah we’ve had some great chats, don’t worry I’m not making out with a stranger.”

Loki smirked and started rubbing circles with his thumb over Tony’s stomach. He let out a happy sigh and leaned in closer to Loki. 

“So if you don’t mind, at the moment I’m trying to avoid chatting and would like to get back to kissing this beautiful guy. So if you could move along it would be appreciated. Go spread rumors, whatever I don’t care.”

An amused smile played on Loki’s lips, “beautiful?”

“Shut up, you heard me.”

“I um- I’m gonna go now. Have fun?” Tony barely heard Steve but he did notice him leaving and took his opportunity to get back to kissing Loki. 

————————

Tony couldn’t remember when they had moved away from the hallway, but he woke up the next morning lying on the couch of one of the less used living rooms with Loki still passed out on the floor. He sat up and groaned as he was hit with a pounding headache. The noise woke Loki up and he tiredly cracked an eye open to look at Tony. “What happened last night…?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I do remember a pretty good make out session though.”

Loki smirked, “I am very glad I remember that too.”

Tony let out a weak chuckle, “we’ll have to make sure to repeat that sometime.”

“Oh I’m counting on it.” Loki stretched out on the floor and yawned, “I don’t wanna get up.”

“Me either,” Tony admitted. “But if we do, I can get my butler to make us some breakfast and much needed coffee.”

“Mmm coffee.” Loki agreed. “Your house is probably trashed, you know.”

“Nah I scheduled a cleaning crew to deal with that, they’ve probably already got through it all. I throw a lot of parties so they get hired a lot.”

“Good thinking.” Loki slowly sat up and adjusted to be facing Tony. “Did you push me off the couch?”

“Maybe. I don't really remember, but If you want to sleep with me, at least take me to dinner first.” He completely intended for that to have a double meaning. 

Loki snorted, “Okay. I will.”

Tony gave him an interested look and nodded, “I like the sound of that.”

“We can settle on a restaurant over breakfast, I’m starving.”

“Right, yes, me too. Please don’t hate me if I throw up on the way to the kitchen.”

He laughed softly and pulled himself up to stand, holding his hand out for Tony. “You’re making it way too difficult for me to hate you.”

“Good I’ve got you right where I want you then.”

Loki grinned and kissed his cheek, “there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”


	8. Love and Betrayl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper gets her own revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who are reading this!

Tony hadn't really seen his friends at the party and was eager to see what they thought about it. He also was a little interested in finding out if they knew about him and Loki yet or if Steve had kept it to himself. 

The thought didn't really occur to him until he was driving to school Monday morning. He had spent most of Saturday with Loki, doing a lot of nothing. His parents were on a business trip so beside Jarvis, they were free to do whatever they liked. Although their relationship was still on the innocent side; just a lot of kisses and snuggling, not that Tony was complaining. 

Eventually Loki’s father got concerned about his whereabouts and wanted him home–Tony was honestly kind of envious of that. Jarvis would have to tell Howard he was missing before he ever noticed Tony was gone.

Once he was at school and walking to his first period, he noticed people staring at him and whispering but he shrugged it off. He figured they were either talking about how amazing his party was or they all knew about him and Loki; either was fine by him. He didn’t give a shit that he was from their main rival school, or another a guy, but he couldn’t blame them for talking, it made for good gossip.

But he started questioning the actual reasoning behind the stares once he was sitting in his first class. Two of Pepper’s friends sneered at him as they walked by his desk. One even went as far as calling him an ‘asshole’ under her breath. What had he done?

He got really confused when the kid next to him, one of Steve’s friends that he didn’t really know named Sam Wilson or something, leaned over to talk to him. “Dude you know the whole school is talking about your breakup with Pepper, right?”

He frowned and looked over at him. Tony didn’t understand why they were all talking about it now, it had happened several days ago and really wasn’t a big deal. Especially considering if Pepper was telling people about it, she’d just be making herself sound bad. Sure, Tony was a little late for their date but she did nothing but insult him before dumping him. He couldn’t make sense of it. “What exactly are they saying?”

“That you completely blew off your date and then broke up with her because you’re interested in somebody else. Is that true?”

“What the hell…” Tony furrowed his brow and shook his head. “No! I mean I was running a little late, yes. But she broke up with me!”

“What a bitch move.” Sam made a face of disgust Tony didn’t know Sam all that well but he was relieved to have someone on his side. Plus if he was one of Steve’s friends, he had to be a pretty good guy—all of his perfectness was contagious. Steve just made you want to be a better person.

He turned back to face the front of the room and considered his options to diffuse the rumors and turn them around on her. He realized that this must be backlash for his jealousy stunt at the party. He snuck his phone under the desk and texted Loki to try and put a little blame on him and maybe get some advice on what to do next.

[Tony]: ‘I’m never agreeing to another one of your plans ever again’

[Loki]: ‘What happened?!’

[Tony]: The ex is pissed and spreading rumours about me. I think it's because of the party’

[Loki]: ‘I'm really sorry, I didn't expect that. I'll make it up to you!’

[Tony]: ‘You better, asshole ;)’

[Loki]: ‘I'm reconsidering my offer now.”

[Tony]: ‘I know you're all talk, you better make it up to me’

[Loki]: ‘Don't you have a class to pay attention to?’

[Tony]: ‘You're more interesting’

[Loki]: ‘Too bad. Go get that education.’

Tony smiled down at his phone. It was easy to forget about all the bad that was happening in his life whenever he talked to Loki. He honestly couldn't believe this guy had become the main positive in his life but he sure wasn't complaining. 

He did as Loki asked and paid attention for the rest of the class period and tried to dismiss any rude looks he was getting from most of the girls in the class. 

————————

When the bell rang, he walked to his locker and found his group of friends hanging around and talking in front of it.

He could hear pieces of their conversation as he approached and slowed down to eavesdrop on what they were saying. He knew they were his friends and all and they wouldn't lie to him but it couldn't hurt to already know what he was walking in. Considering all the rumours with Pepper and her confession about why she was breaking up with him, he couldn't help but be a little paranoid. 

“This isn't good,” that was Steve. 

“He’s going to find out soon,” Bruce. 

“You seriously think he doesn't already know?” There was Natasha. 

“Of course he does! This is such a pain in the ass…” That was Rhodey. 

A couple students walked past and he could only hear bits of the conversation. It sounded like something about Loki, Tony’s name, Bucky calling someone a ‘bitch’ and then clint saying “I honestly don't give a shit about him, I don't know why the rest of you do.” The rest of the group just shrugged. 

They had to be talking about him. What else could that mean? They must've believed what Pepper had said and now they hated him too. He tried to think of a reasonable explanation but came up blank. He was about to turn away and go anywhere else but there but Rhodey spotted him and called out, “hey Tony!”

He slowly turned back and plastered a fake smile across his face, “oh hey guys! Guess I didn't see you there.”

“Are you okay…?” Natasha turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah of course, why wouldn't I be.”

“Um because of Pepper and you seem a little overly happy.” 

“Last time I checked that isn't a sign that someone is not okay- I just remembered I forgot something in my last class, I'll see you guys later!” Before anyone could argue he turned and headed down the hall. That was a very close one. He didn't think any of them had noticed him before Rhodey so they shouldn't know that he knew what they were talking about. 

It sounded like they all didn't care about him so he decided to give them space. If they didn't like him than he might as well not bother them any further. He considered that he might just be overreacting or paranoid but he had a nagging feeling that he had read the conversation correctly.

————————

As planned, Tony spent the next two days completely avoiding his ‘friends.’ He took different routes to his classes, didn't even look at them in class and stopped showing up to lunch. Honestly it was a little depressing being alone so much and Loki had been too busy lately to actually see him so it was just him and his thoughts. 

On the third day he was ready to just go home and tinker in his workshop until he was exhausted but several minutes after he walked in the door the doorbell rang. Jarvis was out running errands so Tony cautiously walked to the door, glancing out a side window to see who was there first– surprisingly it was his friends. 

He opened the door and looked at them with a blank expression, “what do you want?”

Rhodey was the first to speak up, “Tony what is up with you lately?”

Tony was about to respond but Rhodey cut him off first, “and don't you dare say you're fine because I know that's a lie.”

“I've just been busy.” Tony shrugged. “You haven't seemed to care though.”

“Come on Tony, there's definitely more than that.” Natasha looked at him sadly, practically willing him to spill all his secrets. “And if we didn't care would we be here?”

“Maybe you came to tell me you didn't want to be my friend anymore. I heard you guys talking on Monday.”

“What are you talking about?” Steve furrowed his brow in confusion. 

“When you were by my locker, I heard something about Loki and then my name and then a whole lot of rude comments. I've been trying to give you space since you sounded like you didn't want to be around me anyways.”

Rhodey stared at him “For someone with such a high IQ you sure are stupid sometimes. We were talking about how bitchy Pepper was being and that we felt bad for you. Tony we've been really worried that you were mad at us for some reason.”

“Oh.” Tony did feel like a complete idiot but he wasn't about to admit he was wrong. “Next time maybe wait to have a conversation like that when I can't eavesdrops on you.” 

“I'll take it into consideration.” Steve sighed but there was a small smile on his face too. Tony knew that deep down they all loved his dramatics. 

Before Tony could come up with a suitable come back, Thor chimed up from the back of the group, “Well we figured you were upset so we brought you a present to cheer you up.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and watched him in interest, “oh?”

“I thought I told you not to say that.” He heard the voice grumbled from behind Thor and instantly recognised it as Loki’s. He stepped out from behind Thor and smiled sheepishly. “Um hey.”

Tony grinned and held his hands out, “gimmie my boyfriend.”

“I didn't know I was actually your boyfriend,” Loki smirked and wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist as he walked up to him. 

“I mean do you want to be?”

“Of course I do.”

“Hell yes.” Tony grinned and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

Clint whistled and shouted, “get a room!” He sure did know how to ruin a moment. 

Loki glared at him, “don't you have somewhere better to be?”

“Actually-” Steve interrupted. “I thought to make it up to you, Clint and I could make us all dinner? Only if you want of course...”

“Ooo yeah! I'll accept that as your apology.” He smiled and nodded. Steve and Clint could cook like professionals, Tony wasn't about to pass that up. “Come on in, you already know where everything is.”

Tony took Loki’s hand in his and lead him inside and over to the living room. The rest of his friends followed, Steve and Clint going off to the kitchen. They all sat on the various pieces of furniture scattered around the room. 

“So Thor what’s it like having your brother dating one of your best friends?” Clint smirked and looked between Thor and the couple.

“Really weird.” Thor nodded in confirmation.

“You guys are so cute it makes me sick.” Natasha added.

“Aw thanks, Nat.” Tony held his hand over his heart and laughed.

“Anytime, Stark.” She smirked. “But at least one of you needs to get a girlfriend already, I’m getting tired of all you boys.”

“You should bring Amora around sometime, Lo. Natasha would love her; they’re both so mean.”

“I’m sort of afraid that they might be able to take over the world together if they met.” Loki laughed softly.

“My brothers right, they’d be rather unstoppable.” Thor nodded.

“Too late, I want to meet this girl now!” Natasha grinned.

“I’ll make it happen.” Loki smiled with a nod.

They spent the rest of the night like that, talking and laughing, with Clint occasionally making an inappropriate joke about Tony and Loki. 

Loki didn't leave Tony’s side the whole time. It was nice and exciting and loud; Tony hadn’t been that happy in a while. It made up for the past few days of being completely alone and Tony decided this was something that needed to happen more often.


	9. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard Stark comes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of hurt but theres also a lot of fluff to make up for it

The rest of week went back to be being rather normal. When Tony got home on Friday, he was greeted by Jarvis as usual. He grabbed a snack before going over and flopping down on the couch. He usually liked to try and do a million things at once but at the moment he just wanted to watch some TV and maybe go to sleep. 

He successfully got through several hours of his plan before his father got home. His father and mother had been away on a business trip for several days and it had honestly been a nice break for Tony. His father wasn't all that bad until you made him angry or if he was drunk, which happened often. 

It was only eight thirty but Howard Stark came stumbling inside with Maria, Tony’s mother, trailing after him. When he was drunk, all hell broke loose. He started yelling at everyone in the house and breaking things. Tony decided it was time to either go lock himself in the lab or up in his room. 

He tried to sneak away from the living room which looked right into the main entrance way but was stopped when his mother spotted him, “oh Anthony! Sweetheart can you please help me with the bags?” 

Tony sighed and turned back to her. Normally that would be Jarvis’ job but he had already gone home and Howard sure wasn't going to help. 

“Yeah, sure. Hey dad.” He flashed him a quick smile as he walked past to go help bring in the luggage. 

Howard narrowed his eyes and looked at Tony, “what happened to your face?”

Tony gave him a confused look before realising the bruises from Vanko were still visible. He wasn't in the mood to make up a lie so he just opted for the truth. By morning, his dad wouldn't remember anything he said anyways. “Oh some kid wanted me to do his homework and I refused, so he punched me a few times. It happened a couple days ago, I'm over it.”

His mom tried to make a fuss over it and was very concerned that he hadn't called to tell her, but he assured her he was fine. His father was not so convinced. Tony thought Howard might actually be concerned about his well being for once but he was sadly mistaken. 

“Did you hit him back?”

“Um no…” He frowned and looked away from Howard. 

“Why not?” Howard’s brow creased in what seemed to be anger. 

“Well Nat saw it happening and came over which scared him off,” he shrugged. “The kid is a lot bigger than I am.”

“So you let a girl save you? Do you want people to think you're pathetic?”

“No I-”

He was cut off by his father shouting at him, “Well that's what people are going to think, Anthony! That you're a pathetic wimp who can't do anything for yourself!”

Tony winced. Nothing his father said was anything new but it still stung and of course his mother had chosen the perfect moment to step out to get the luggage out of the car. 

“Dad please-” he whined, which was a mistake because it just pissed Howard off even more. 

He struck Tony, hard. “Don't you start whining, Anthony! When are you going to learn to stand up for yourself? Honestly you're so embarrassing.”

Tony recoiled and cradled his cheek in his hands to try and soothe the pain. Tony was terrible at standing up for himself and they both knew it. He had been told he was worthless so many times by Howard that he eventually just started to believe it although he’d never let anyone know that. His bravado excellently masked it. 

He threw a punch at Tony’s shoulder and shouted, “cmon stand up for yourself!”

Tony stumbled and covered his face the best he could, “dad stop! Please!”

“No! You need to man up!” He hit him again, causing Tony to stumble again, cornering him back against the wall. “I'm trying to teach you a valuable lesson here.” 

Tony shut his eyes and blindly punched out towards his father but ended up just hitting air. He decided it was in his best interest to just stop talking and do as his father asked. He actually wouldn't really mind punching him a couple times; he definitely deserved it. 

After all that time working with heavy tools and machinery down in the lab, Tony had muscle but it didn't help him much if he didn't know how to even throw an effective punch. 

“Come on hit me like you mean it! You can't let people push you around, Anthony! You're going to ruin our family's reputation.”

“Oh you should talk! You always push me around!” Tony shouted back and clenched his fist in anger. 

“I do it for your own good! You should be grateful I care so much.”

“You caring about me?” Tony laughed bitterly. “That's rich.”

“Don't you talk to me like that!” Howard punched at Tony’s jaw. His anger was growing but the alcohol made him lose momentum but it still stung.

He grunted and looked around for a route to escape. Howard was about to throw another blow at his face but Maria walked back in the house lugging a huge suitcase. 

“Anthony can you please- Oh my! Howard what are you doing to him?!” She dropped the bag, her eyes wide. Tony was curling in on himself and desperately trying to block his now swollen face. 

“Help…” Tony whined. 

“Howard you stop that right now, look what you've done! You need to go to bed. Right now.” Maria gave him a stern look that no one could really say no to. She was probably the only person to ever successfully tell Howard to do something. 

Tony took the distraction as his cue to leave. He didn't bother to wait around and see what excuse Howard would use to justify him beating Tony up. He made a dash for the staircase and up to his room. He locked the door and sunk down to the floor. “What the hell just happened…” He muttered to himself and stared at the opposite wall. 

His whole body hurt. He wanted- no he needed to be anywhere but here. He grabbed his cell phone and called Loki. It felt like it rang forever before he picked up. 

“Hey Tony, what's up?” 

“Can I come over?” His voice was shaky and he knew Loki would pick up on it but he didn't even care anymore. 

“Um Yeah I guess so… Is something wrong? You sound like you're about to cry.”

“I don't cry!” He said it instinctively but quickly corrected himself. “Sorry- yeah something happened and I just really don't want to be at my house right now.”

“You can explain everything when you're here then.”

“Thank you.” He felt a flood of relief and really just hearing Loki’s voice made the pain in his face and shoulder a little more bearable. “I'll be over in ten.”

He ended the call and quickly threw some clothes and other necessities into a spare backpack. He knew he really needed to put ice on his face but he was too scared to go down to the kitchen. Once he was done, he headed down a back staircase and snuck out through a more hidden away door to get to his car. 

It didn't take long before he got to it and was on the road to Loki’s house. It was pretty close to his and he had been there several times to hang out with Thor but surprisingly he had never once seen Loki there. 

—————————

Once he was at Loki’s house, he sent him a text to let him know he was there before going up to the door. The large doorway swung open before he even got a chance to knock and a worried looking Loki was there waiting for him. 

“Hey there my beautiful boyfriend.” Tony smiled the best he could but winced at the pain it caused. 

“Tony what happened to you- are you okay?!”

“Can I come in first and um have some ice. This hurts just as badly as it looks. Actually I assume it looks bad… I haven’t worked up the nerve to look in the mirror.”

“Shit, yeah of course and you look pretty awful...” As soon as he stepped inside, Loki slipped his hand into Tony’s and led him to the kitchen. He only let go briefly to get the ice out of the freezer. 

Tony leaned back against the counter and stayed quiet until he turned back around with two bags of ice in his hands, “let’s go to my room and then you can tell me who I need to beat up.”

Tony smiled weakly and nodded, “sounds good to me. You know i’ve been here like a thousand times but have no idea which room is yours.”

Loki laughed softly. “Oh I know. Every Time you’ve been here, you were so loud and obnoxious.”

“Wow thanks, man,” he smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Just stating the truth.” He smirked before turning and walking back out to the hall. Tony followed after him. Loki’s house was just as big as his. Apparently his family was part of some sort of royalty. 

After several turns he brought him down a long hallway to his room which out of all the places it could be in that huge house, it was right across from Thor’s. “This is mine.”

Tony set his backpack down by the door and looked around the large room. Him and Tony were complete opposites when it came to decor. His room was all muted greens and brown and he had several bookshelves lining the walls. Additionally everything seemed to be perfectly organised; he bet the book shelves were in alphabetical order too.

He only got a moment to look before Loki ushered him over to sit on his bed. Tony complied and leaned back against the pillows. The pain was really starting to set in and he just wanted to relax now.

Once he was settled, Loki stood by his side and carefully held one of the bags of ice against his cheek and looked at him sadly. “Will you please tell me what happened now.”

Tony hesitated a moment before explaining the events that happened that night, including all the hurtful comments his father had made. There was a long pause before Loki said anything. “Tony… that is not okay… Don’t you dare even consider any of those things that he said are true. You’re amazing in every possible way.”

“Don’t get too sappy on me, Lo.” 

“Sorry- that just makes me so angry…” he frowned and shook his head. “You don’t deserve that.”

Tony scoffed, “why don’t you try telling him that.”

“I think I will.”

Tony’s eyes went wide, “no! No, no you are not going to do that. I’m not even letting him in the same room as you.”

“Well it sounds like he deserves a taste of his own medicine.” Loki said bitterly.

“Oh he does… but i’m not risking letting you try anything like that. It’s not smart to piss off rich and famous people they can ruin your life with a snap of their fingers.”

“I suppose you are right…” Loki sighed and nodded. “I'll have to keep that in mind so I do not ever piss you off.”

Tony just gave him a small smile and stayed quiet. After a few moments of silence he spoke up again, “I'm sorry about all this, taking care of me is probably the last thing you wanna do on a Friday night.”

“No do not apologise, this isn't your fault Tony.”

“Are you sure? If I'm bothering you I could just go over to Bruce’s, he's always home and pretty used to seeing me like this…” He trailed off and looked away from Loki. 

All humor left his face at hearing that, “this has happened before?”

“A couple times in the past, yeah.” Tony nodded slightly. “He has no idea how to be a parent and then he gets drunk and he thinks he's helping me out with life lessons or some shit.”

A flash of anger crossed his face, “that's not right Tony… You deserve so much better.”

“Hey,” Tony reached up and cupped Loki’s cheeks. “I'll be fine, please don't do anything stupid, okay?”

He sighed and looked at Tony. “I promise I won't, that just makes me so angry.”

“I know babe, but I can take care of myself.”

“Fine, okay. You can come over here if you ever need to, okay?”

“Okay.” Tony nodded. “You don't know how much I appreciate that.” 

“Good.” He smiled softly. “Did you get hurt anywhere else?”

“Oh yeah my shoulder too.”

“Let me see. Take off your shirt.”

“If I wasn’t in so much pain, I would be taking full advantage of this situation.” He smirked and slowly pulled off his t-shirt, trying his best to not irritate his shoulder any further. 

Loki bit his lip and nodded, “as soon as you’re feeling better we’re so doing this again. With much less talking” 

He grinned and leaned back on the bed, “You still need to take me to dinner first.”

“Oh and I fully intend to.” He smirked and very obviously stared at him for a moment before placing the second bag of ice against his bruised shoulder. 

He hissed in pain and shut his eyes, “that one really stings.”

“Sorry, but it's just going to get worse if you don't ice it.” Loki ran his other hand through Tony’s hair. It was a comforting gesture and he immediately leaned in to his touch, sighing contently. “Are you planning on staying the night?”

Tony glanced over at the bag of clothes he had set down by the door of his room. “Um I mean is that okay with you? If not I can go somewhere else; like I said before, Bruce is used to me coming over like this.”

“No, no you’re not going anywhere.” Loki said matter of factly, mostly focusing on icing Tony’s bruises. “I'm happy just to see you, I mean I'd be happier if you weren't all beat up but I'll take what I can get.”

“Oh good I really didn't want to leave… and i’d really like some cuddles” He smiled up at Loki. 

“Do you?” Loki smirked and raised an eyebrow. 

He nodded and took the ice pack from him before patting the space next to him, “get your cute ass over here.”

“You're so demanding.” He laughed softly but climbed onto the bed and flopped down next to him, snaking an arm around his waist. 

“I like getting what I want,” he grinned and leaned up to gently kiss his cheek. 

“Well that's not a surprise,” he smiled and pulled Tony in closer. 

He sighed contently and leaned in to him. He was acutely aware that he still didn’t have a shirt on but it really didn’t seem to be bothering either one of them.

They chatted about nothing in particular for a little while longer before Loki decided Tony needed rest. They laid down with Tony nestled against Loki’s side, “Goodnight Tony.”

Tony yawned and mumbled, “night, Lo.”

After that he was out like a light, he was both emotionally and physically exhausted and Loki made him feel safe; he hadn't slept that well in a very long time.


	10. Skating on Thin Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Loki go on their official date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who reads and leaves comments, they mean so much!! After this one, there's only one chapter left so get ready for the ending!

The next morning, Tony woke up disoriented and unaware of his surroundings. He started to panic before feeling Loki’s arms wrap tighter around his chest and the rush of memories from the night before came back. He snuggled closer to Loki’s side; he barely remembered falling asleep there but then again he had been pretty exhausted.

He didn’t want to wake Loki so he attempted to drift back off to sleep--it didn’t take long before he dozed off again. 

When he woke up Loki was already awake and glanced over from his side of the bed when he heard Tony stirring. “Good Morning, how are you feeling?”

“Kinda like I got thrown off a building,” he winced as he tried to sit up, further confirming the pain the bruises were causing him.

“I am not surprised… those bruises are really starting to set in.” Loki frowned slightly as he looked over Tony’s face and shoulder.

“Aw great…” he sighed. “My poor handsome face doesn’t deserve this cruelty.”

“Hey I should be the one complaining, I’m the one who has to look at you.” 

He put a hand over his heart in mock sympathy, “oh I’m so sorry, guess I should save you the misery and just go.” He pushed himself away from Loki and started to get off the bed.

“Oh no you don’t,” he barely had one foot on the floor before Loki’s hand shot out and grabbed Tony’s arm, his strong grip easily pulling him back onto the bed. 

“Ow!” he muttered as he fell back, jostling his bruised shoulder. He sat with his back to Loki, pouting. As much as he wanted to just snuggle up to him again, he also wanted to make him feel a little guilty about the pain he had just caused.

“Oh dear… Tony my apologies. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Hmph. Why don’t you make it up to me then.”

He felt the shift of the mattress as Loki moved closer to him but didn’t dare turn around to look. After a very long moment of suspense, he felt Loki’s lips gently brush over Tony’s neck and then he slowly kissed down to his shoulder. He stifled a gasp, he couldn’t have Loki thinking it was that simple to get to him, “that’s the best you got?”

“Well I can't use all my tricks at once,” he smirked and muttered against his skin. “Plus I would hate to hurt you any further.”

“Well I'm still feeling that pain so maybe you should try a little harder,” Tony smiled mischievously and twisted around to be facing Loki. 

“Want me to kiss you better, darling?”

“Darling?” Tony smirked and raised an eyebrow. That was a name he usually used to flirt with girls, no one had ever used it on him.

“Did I stutter?” He looked at him with a playful grin. 

“Nope- no, and I like that idea of kissing.” 

“Very well,” he smirked and wrapped his arms around his waist before leaning in to kiss him softly–still being careful of his bruises. 

Tony smiled into the kiss and tangled his fingers in Loki’s hair. He craved Loki’s touch and attention and pushed himself closer until he was pretty much sitting in Loki’s lap. Between the pet names and flirting, Tony decided that this must be how the girls that Tony usually dated felt being with him; just Loki has a darker sense of humour and a tendency to talk like he's in a Shakespeare play. 

Loki quickly began to kiss him more eagerly and Tony matched his pace without much thought. They continued like this for several long minutes before Tony’s stomach grumbled with hunger, making Loki pause and pull away to look at him with an amused expression, “maybe we should go get some breakfast…”

Tony took a moment to catch his breath before replying, “no thanks. This is more fun than breakfast.”

“Too bad. We’ll pick up where we left later today.” Loki didn't give him much choice as he turned away to get off the bed. 

Tony sighed and grabbed his shirt, from the previous night, off the floor and tugged it on before getting up. 

Loki pushed himself off the bed and waited for him by the door. Tony slipped his hand into Loki’s and swung their arms as they walked to the kitchen causing Loki to watch him with an amused smile. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” he smiled and shook his head. “You're just so unbelievably cute, that's all.”

“I know right.” Tony beamed from the compliment. 

“And oh so modest,” he laughed softly and rolled his eyes. 

“Your sarcasm is not appreciated it.”

“My apologies.”

“I'll forgive you, but only because I lov- um like; because I like you so much.” He could feel his face turning red and he quickly looked away from him to try and cover it up. 

Loki simply raised an eyebrow at him but didn't mention the slip up. Luckily they walked into the kitchen a few moments later and Loki busied himself by looking through the cabinets for something to eat. 

Tony stood quietly and waited for Loki to be done looking. He was used to just throwing out the word ‘love’ with his friends and it never felt like the momentous word that everyone made it out to be; but his opinion changed when using it in the context of Loki. It felt like it was packed with emotion and meaning and he didn't want to scare Loki off by using it. 

He was saved from his thoughts by Thor walking into the kitchen. 

“Ah good morning brother!” He smiled which turned into a loud yawn. Just like his brother, his hair was still pretty much flawless despite being slept on. “Oh hello Anthony, I didn't know you were here.”

“Hey Thor,” he smiled slightly. “I got here pretty late last night…”

“I see,” he nodded. “And what happened to your face?”

“My dad came home,” he shrugged knowing that was enough explanation for Thor to infer what had happened. 

“That's unfortunate.”

Loki glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow, “how does Thor know about this?”

“He's my friend, it's kind of difficult for them to not know about how awful my dad is. Actually the last time this happened I came over here and he helped fix me up.”

Thor nodded in agreement. 

“Huh…”

“If you weren't so busy hiding in your room, you would've know that.” Tony smirked which earned him a chuckle from Thor. 

Loki sighed, “why did I think dating one of Thor's friend was a good idea?”

“Because I'm handsome and smart and a great kisser and just generally amazing.”

Loki laughed and nodded, “again with the modesty! But I can't really argue with any of those… Especially the kissing part.”

Tony grinned smugly and Thor just wrinkled his nose, “I don't think I needed to know that.”

“Too late.” 

He sighed and grabbed a pack of poptarts from the cupboard before turning back the way he came, “I'm gonna leave you two be, don't wanna Interrupt your flirting.”

“Good seeing you, Thor!” Tony laughed softly as he walked back to the hall and then turned back to Loki. “So anything good to eat?”

“Oh right- how about waffles?”

“Works for me.”

Tony helped with the incredibly difficult task of sticking the waffles in the toaster and they just caught each other up on their lives as they ate. 

—————————

After eating and getting dressed–Tony wearing jeans and one of Loki’s (unsurprisingly) green hoodies–they left for their first official date. It was the very beginning of winter so the ice in the outdoor arenas were just frozen enough for them to skate on. 

Loki chose Central Park and it was a quick drive over. It's a massive rink and it was already starting to fill up with people. Tony felt a twinge of nervousness, the last thing he wanted was to fall and look stupid in front of this many people. 

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Tony frowned as they walked closer. 

“Why? Are you scared?” 

“Pff me? Scared? Never. I just don't have the best balance is all.”

“Well that's why you have me.” Loki smirked. “I'll make sure you don't fall, okay?”

“Okay.” Tony sighed with a nod. 

Loki took his hand and lead him over to get their skates and Tony just let him do all the talking until he actually had his skates on. “Okay let's do this thing.” He stood up slowly, getting used to standing on the skates. 

With the help of Loki, he managed to actually walk over to the rink and carefully stepped out on to the ice. He kept a steal grip on Loki’s hand and wobbly tried to move forward. “Why is this so hard?” He huffed and looked up at Loki. 

“You just need a little practice is all. I'll teach you” Loki smiled back at him and took Tony’s other hand in his. He slowly started skating backwards and mostly just dragged Tony along. This obviously wasn't his first time skating. 

Tony looked at him in disbelief, “you just wanted to do this so you could show off, didn't you?”

Loki smirked with a shrug, “maybe. Maybe I'm really just trying to teach you how to ice skate. It will help if you actually tried moving your feet.”

Tony nodded and glided along the ice the best he could manage, slowly getting more used to the feeling 

After a half hour of Loki giving him instruction to help improve his skating, he finally worked up enough nerve to let go of one of Loki’s hands and skate along side him. 

“You know, you're a really great teacher.” Tony smiled but kept his concentration on not falling. “Do you ice skate a lot?”

“Why thank you.” Loki grinned smugly. “Occasionally I do, yes. I enjoy the cold and being near the ice.”

“That's cool–no pun intended.” Tony snickered causing Loki to just shake his head. 

“You're too much.” He looked at him with amused expression. 

“Yeah but you love it.”

“I'm not going to deny that…” Loki smirked. 

“Well then I'm taking that as a yes.” He beamed and started to speed up his skating; being with Loki made him feel safe which gave him confidence. Loki didn't protest and before they knew it, Tony was moving smoothly along the ice. 

They skated for a few hours until their feet were too numb to stay for any longer. They turned their skates back in and headed back out into the cold, hand in hand. 

They were about to go back to Loki’s car but Tony noticed a cart selling hot chocolate and decided it was necessary. “No better way to warm up then drinking hot chocolate.”

“Heaters and blankets are a much more effective method but I suppose hot chocolate works too.” 

Tony rolled his eyes, “must you take everything so seriously?”

“Sorry… I can get a bit competitive about being right.”

Tony squeezed Loki’s hand reassuringly, “don't worry, I definitely understand that.”

“Oh I'm aware, Mr. Ego.” 

“Hey!” Tony couldn't help but smile as he looked at Loki. He decided to dismiss the comment as they approached the stand and he turned his attention to the woman behind the counter. He ordered the two hot chocolates and handed one to Loki once they were finished being made. 

“Thank you, Tony.”

“Anything for you,” he smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 

Loki hummed happily at that and led them over to sit on a nearby park bench overlooking the outdoor ice skate arena. 

“I'm glad we got to do this.”

“Me too.” Loki nodded and took a sip of his hot chocolate. “You actually got to be really good at it.”

“I know right.” Tony grinned. “But only because I had the best teacher.”

“Oh stop, you're going to make me blush.”

“Kinda the point, Lo.” He smirked and leaned up to fully kiss him this time. Loki smiled into the kiss and wrapped his free arm around Tony’s waist. Tony pressed himself against the warmth of Loki’s body and silently thanked every lucky star for letting him have Loki as his own and to be able to share moments like this one.


	11. Stay With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who has read this from the beginning! This is the last chapter and I've really enjoyed writing this pairing, I hope you enjoy reading ti!

I apologize for Howard’s behavior in this chapter. It actually pained me to write this. 

Tony spent the rest of the weekend over at Loki’s house. His mom had called several times the first night he left and it made him feel a whole lot better to know she was actually concerned about him; it also made him feel pretty guilty that he made her worry. 

By the time he came home Sunday night, the bruising was at it’s peak and his face looked pretty black and blue. His mom made a huge fuss over him leaving with no warning and Tony just let her get all her worrying out without saying a word. His father however was nowhere to be seen and was apparently already planning for another business trip for the following weekend. 

Tony decided he would take full advantage of no Howard and have all his friends over for an unofficial party. His father never really allowed him to have friends over so whenever he was away on business trips, Tony liked to have as many people over as possible just to secretly spite him. 

He texted all his friends, including Loki and Amora, to all come over late Saturday afternoon. He occasionally did this and his friends always made sure they could find a way to show up. It usually ended up with eating way too much of Clint’s delicious baking, half of them tipsy and all of them accidentally falling asleep somewhere in the mansion. 

It didn’t change anything that Maria would be home this time around. She adored all of Tony’s friends and they all felt like they had a second mom when she was around. She found it very important to make sure anyone and everyone felt loved and taken cared of whenever she could. It still baffled Tony as to why she had married Howard--but according to her, he was very different when they first met. 

On the other hand, his friends had never met his father and that was just the way he liked it. 

—————————

The week dragged on but Friday did eventually come. Loki and Amora were the first to show up, unlike his friends they were right on time. Unfortunately Tony’s mom got to the door before he could and by time he caught up, his mom was already chatting away and Loki was being as polite as ever by actually listening. 

“Ah mom--hey! Please tell me you haven't said anything embarrassing to them.”

“Ooo I want to hear something embarrassing about Tony.” Amora flashed a mischievous smile towards him. 

“Nope, no definitely not,” Tony just sighed and shook his head before turning his attention to Loki. “Hey Lo.”

“Hey Tony. Nice of you to join us.” He smirked playfully.

Tony rolled his eyes but had an amused expression. “So mom, this is Loki and his lovely friend Amora.”

“Friend? Sure you two aren't dating?” Maria smiled and raised an eyebrow. Tony couldn’t blame her for the assumption, it was an easy mistake to make considering their closeness. (Loki had assured Tony on several occasions that he had no interest in Amora) Amora just really liked to be hanging on Loki whenever she could. 

Loki laughed loudly and shook his head, “oh no, no definitely not.”

“He’s Tony’s boyfriend, actually.” Amora smirked and Loki’s laughter immediately paused, a sheepish smile appearing on his face. 

“Um yeah, that's the guy I was talking about last week, he's Thor's brother, remember?” 

“Oh yes!” Maria smiled softly and nodded. “He's said some very nice things about you! I won't bother you any longer, have fun, don't get too crazy please.” With that she turned to retreat back to her office, leaving Tony completely embarrassed and Loki and Amora grinning mischievously at him. 

“I want to hear what ‘nice things’ means,” Loki smirked and moved away from Amora to wrap an arm around Tony’s waist. 

“Uhum yeah… No thanks!” Tony flashed him a smile and lead them to his massive living room. A couple nights ago Tony had started rambling about how amazing Loki was to his mom without much thought. It was easy to tell her about his life, she loved hearing it and made sure to never criticise anything that made him happy–Loki makes him very happy. Their relationship was still pretty much a secret to anyone beyond his immediate friend group; dating someone from your biggest rival school wasn’t exactly seen as a good choice among most of the students at Avenger’s Academy.

“I’ll get you to talk eventually.” Loki offered a mischievous smirk, making Tony’s eyebrows arch up in question.

“Well I know you can be very persuasive...”

Loki simply winked in response leading Amora to pretend to gag, “will you two just get a room already!”

“I’d love to but I’m still expecting guests.” Tony smirked proudly and just as the words left his mouth the doorbell rang, “speak of the devil, be right back.”

He hopped off the couch and headed to get the door. This time his mom wasn’t around to answer for him and he swung the door open to see the rest of his group on the other side. There was a chorus of “hellos” and “how's it goings” as they all filed into the front room, walking over to the living room without having to be prompted to. 

Tony was the last to walk back in and he felt a pang of happiness at seeing all his friends--including Loki and Amora--smiling and getting along.

He flopped back down on the couch next to Loki; they were so used to each other’s presence that even mid-conversation with Natasha, Loki easily slid his arm around Tony’s waist and pulled him in closer. Tony didn’t hesitate to cuddle up to him, feeling overwhelmingly content.

Loki wasn’t paying much attention to him at the moment, too busy talking to Natasha, so Tony scanned the room and noticed Amora had isolated herself in the back corner of the room--Tony could not stand for someone not having fun at one of his events. He wiggled out of Loki’s grip and made his way over to Amora. 

“Hey hot stuff, why so blue?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips and she shrugged, “I am not blue, I just do not know any of these people all too well.”

“Lies! You know Loki and I very well. Oh and Thor!”

“You are not wrong.” She nodded while avoiding Tony’s gaze.

“C’mon I have someone you need to meet.” He grabbed her wrist before she could protest and started pulling her over to the opposite side of the room. “You’re going to love her.”

Amora sighed but didn’t resist, trailing behind Tony. He waited a moment for Loki to notice them standing there before pushing Amora towards Natasha, “sorry to interrupt but I brought you a friend.” Tony grinned. “Nat this is Amora, Amora this is Natasha. You’re both hot yet very scary. Have fun.”

“Oh um hey.” Natasha smirked and raised an eyebrow in question towards Tony.

“Just go with it.” Tony mouthed back.

“Hello.” Amora wasn't one to show embarrassment so she easily slipped back into her regular cocky attitude.

“Nice to finally meet you. Tony talks about you a lot.”

“Oh does he?” Amora grinned and twisted around to glance at Tony.

“Mostly about how scared he is of you.” 

“Lies! All lies! This plan is already backfiring on me!” He sighed and shook his head.

“There’s a plan?” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

“Nope- nevermind. I’m gonna go, I have a very handsome boyfriend waiting on me.”

Both of the girls chuckled and he took that as his opportunity to leave the conversation. 

Loki watched him with an amused expression as he walked back and flopped down on the couch. He was sitting right next to where the conversation so Tony was sure he had seen the whole ordeal. “What was that about?”

“Amora looked lonely and I had told Natasha that she needed to meet Amora so I saw the opportunity to introduce them and I took it.” 

“I see.” Loki smirked. “How generous of you.”

“Just trying to be a good friend.”

“They’re so lucky to have you as a friend.” Loki’s expression softened to a fond smile as he looked at Tony. 

“Yeah I know.” He smirked and leaned against Loki’s side, resting his head on Loki’s shoulder.

They carried on like that for a little while longer--Tony snuggled against Loki, Nat and Amora quickly becoming best friends, the rest of the group talking and laughing loudly. They only stopped because Clint decided to announce that he was starving.

They all laughed but decided it would be a good time to eat. Luckily Tony had ordered several pizzas a while before they showed up so it arrived minutes later. 

They ate contently, making the room shockingly quiet. They got most of the way through their dinner before they heard the front door swing open. The dining room was located near the front door but a half wall still blocked his view. It was a little early but he assumed his mom was sending Jarvis home for the day. He shrugged and continued munching on his pizza.

“Honey I’m home!” The voice echoed out from the front room, making Tony’s blood run cold.

The voice unmistakably belonged belonged to his father who wasn’t suppose to be home for another two days. 

“Shit! Shit. Shit. Shit… I’m dead. I’m so incredibly dead! You guys need to go. Right now!” He whispered harshly, quickly getting up from his chair and trying to clean up the mess as he talked.

“Tony… What’s going on?” Clint stared at him in confusion.

“My dad is home early!” He hissed. As if that made the situation any clearer.

Realization hit Rhodey and Natasha right around the same time and they both jumped up to help him get rid of the evidence. They knew him the best and they knew his father didn’t allow him to have friends over. So having seven friends--and one boyfriend--over behind his back meant certain death.

He heard his mother’s voice greet Howard moments later. All he could do was hope that she could buy them enough time to get out without being caught. The rest of the group caught on quick, helping him. 

Steve being the leader he is, started whispering orders, “Nat go grab our bags so he doesn’t seem them in the living room. Cling help her with that.”

They nodded and slipped off to the living room.

“Bruce, finish throwing out the pizza boxes and Thor, can you take out the trash?”

“No problem.” Bruce replied and did as instructed. That left Amora, Tony, Loki and Steve himself. 

Rhodey had disappeared probably to go get the back door and gate opened for a quick retreat. 

“Tony. I need you to take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.”

“But-”

“Your mom is keeping him distracted and all evidence that we were here is gone. Everythings okay.”

Tony looked frantic but he seemed to calm down at hearing his words, “okay.”

The rest of their group returned in a matter of minutes.

Howard’s voice rang out from the front room again, “I’m hungry. What do we have to eat?” He was talking loudly, a tell-tale sign that he was drunk. Tony heard footsteps and his mother’s protests trying to coax him away from the kitchen and discovering the teenagers. 

Before any of them had a chance to react, there was Howard, standing in the doorway of the dining room.

Tony looked like he was about to pass out. Rhodey was the only one who had ever seen Tony act like this before. It was incredibly unusual for the rest of the group; because normally, no matter the situation, Tony kept up his sarcastic and cocky personality. But he was caught off guard, tired and stressed and oh so terrified. Howard was unpredictable, especially when he’s drunk and half the time it ends with Tony having a bruised face. 

“Anthony… What the hell is this?” His voice raised even louder towards Tony.

“I’m sorry... “ was all Tony could muster.

His mom caught up after that and gently placed a hand on Howard’s arm, “Howard, dear. Why don’t you leave Anthony alone. Let’s go up to bed, you look tired.”

“No.” He said firmly.” He needs to be taught a lesson on obeying my rules.”   
Tony visibly paled upon hearing that and Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support.

“You know you’re not allowed to have people over!” His voice bellowed and he swayed slightly--the alcohol seemed to really be setting in.

“I know but-”

“So you do have a brain in there! I thought you knew better than to disobey me.”

Tony winced, “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Like hell it won’t! I’ll make sure of that.”

Maria tried and failed to pull Howard away. Tony appreciated her attempts but they didn’t deter Howard in the slightest.

Tony whimpered and turned to friends who were watching in shock. “You need to leave. Now.” His voice was so quiet they could hardly believe it was coming from Tony.

They all looked reluctant to leave him alone with his father. 

“Please…” His voice shook as he said it.

“No.” Tony whipped around to look at Loki. No? That wasn’t an option.

“You don’t deserve to be treated like this, Tony.”

Tony watched with wide eyes as Loki approached his father. “You have no right to treat Tony like this.”

A wave of anger flashed over Howard’s face, “who are you to talk to me like that?!”

“His boyfriend--who cares a whole lore more about him then you do--you’d know that if you actually bothered to talk to him.”

Howard was fuming at this point. Even though he looked ready to topple over from being drunk, he was still very intimidating. “Enough! I don’t need to be disrespected in my own home!”

Loki didn’t look like he was ready to back down any time soon.

“Loki… stop… please.” Tony pleaded with him and after a moment, he obeyed.

“Thank you.” he murmured, half hiding behind Rhodey’s back now.

“Come on. We’re leaving.” Loki slipped his hand into Tony’s and gently directed him towards the front door.

“I can’t just-”

“Yes you can. Do you want to be here?”

“No…” He mumbled.

“Then it’s settled.” Loki smiled softly at him in an effort at comforting him.

“Okay.”

Loki nodded and continued walking. To get to the front door they had to walk through the doorway of the dining room which Howard was still blocking.

Loki, however, was determined and almost pushed Howard clear out of the way--the fact that he was drunk made it a lot simpler because he was already having a hard time standing up without leaning on the wall for support. But as expected, that didn’t bode well with him. He grabbed Tony’s arm, harshly pulling him back. “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Anthony?”

“Anywhere but here.” Tony said defiantly.

“Oh no you’re not. You’re staying right here with me.” Howard had an unsettling, humorless smile which made Tony want to run as fast as he could from the room.

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, no.” Tony stammered and yanked his arm away. “I’m sick of you treating me like this.”

Howard looked dumbfounded; Tony never talked back, never spoke up for himself. Tony took the opportunity to make a bee-line for the door with Loki right on heels. “Oh and I hate the name Anthony!” Tony called back right before they were out the door to the front porch.

The rest of his friends followed him out soon after. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tony muttered. Speaking out against his dad had given him an adrenaline rush that was quickly fading. Tony felt exhausted and embarrassed from the ordeal and really just wanted to be left alone to cry and maybe drink away his feelings just as his father does. “I should have never invited you guys over. You didn’t need to see that.”

“Tony don’t you dare apologize.” Rhodey frowned and pulled Tony into a hug. 

“I knew things were bad… but this is outrageous.” Natasha added and joined in on the hug, stroking Tony’s hair soothingly--it was something she did often whenever he needed to be calmed down.

Soon enough the whole group was embracing Tony in a group hug. 

“What did I do to deserve you guys?” Tony let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding in and practically melted into the hug.

They all just held Tony a little bit tighter and they stayed like that for several minutes before he decided he was feeling enough love.

Once was Rhodey was convinced that Tony had calmed down enough, he sent him off with Loki. It was a quiet drive back to his house which Tony was thankful for. Although he had calmed down, he still felt emotionally drained and unstable. 

He didn’t say anything once they arrived and simply just walked down the halls to Loki’s bedroom, which now felt like a second home to him. He kicked off his shoes and jeans and crawled under the covers on “his” side of the bed. 

Loki sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, soothingly stroking Tony’s hair. “I know you probably don’t want to, but we should really talk about this.”

“Don’t wanna…” Tony mumbled and tried to bury his head further into the pillow. 

“Tony… how long has this been happening?”

“Since I was like five or something...it wasn’t always this bad, but then dad started drinking and his temper grew.” Tony shifted so he was laying on his back and could look up at Loki. “Can’t we talk about this another time?” 

“If I don’t ask now, you’ll never tell me.”

Tony sighed in defeat, knowing he was right. He sat up and leaned back against the headboards. “Fine. But make it quick, I wanna sleep and cuddle you.”

“Okay.” He nodded and thought for a moment. “Does he always get that drunk?”

“A couple of nights a week, yeah.” 

“And all of those mysterious bruises on your arms that you refused to explain are from him getting mad at you?”

“Yeah…” Tony frowned and looked down at his hands. “Sorry for not telling you.”

“No, Tony I am the one who needs to be sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He answered quietly.

“It’s my fault for not noticing sooner.”

“Well I was trying pretty hard to hide it from you…”

“But why?” Loki frowned as he looked at him.

“It’s embarrassing. I didn’t want you to think I was lame or a wimp or something… I don't know.” Tony looked away from Loki. “Everyone always says I’m too much to handle, that they don’t want to be bothered by my problems… I thought if I just hid them away, you’d stay with me.”

Loki was speechless. He pulled Tony in close so he was mostly sitting in Loki’s lap. Tony didn’t hesitate to cuddle closer to his chest.

“Tomy I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“I’m so lucky to have you…”

“I’m definitely luckier.”

“No chance!” Tony’s eyes were threatening to spill over with tears because of his confession to Loki but he still looked up at him with a broken smile. “I… I’m so glad you’re mine.”

Tony couldn’t bring himself to say the words that were really on his mind, he was too worried it would be another way to scare him off.

Loki seemed to read his mind and put those fears to rest.

“Tony… I- I love you.” Loki said the word’s without a hint of uncertainty.

Tony felt giddy from those three words and reached up to kiss Loki--maybe a little too eagerly--before mumbling against his lips, “I love you too.” and he had never meant those words more than he did now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna apologize for Howard's behavior in this fic, it seriously pained me to write those scenes but hey it did good for the dramatics


End file.
